Their words were not loud, their manner was amicable enough, if the
sharing of a bottle were anything to the point. But they were sitting
almost the full length of the table from him, and to quarrel courteously
and with an air hath ever been a quality in men of gentle blood.
If Morris's eyesight had been better, he would have seen that Gering
handled his wine nervously, and had put down his long Dutch pipe. He
would also have seen that Iberville was smoking with deliberation, and
drinking with a kind of mannered coolness. Gering's face was flushed,
his fine nostrils were swelling viciously, his teeth showed white against
his red lips, and his eyes glinted. There was a kind of devilry at
Iberville's large and sensuous mouth, but his eyes were steady and
provoking, and while Gering's words went forth pantingly, Iberville's
were slow and concise, and chosen with the certainty of a lapidary.
It is hard to tell which had started the quarrel, but an edge was on
their talk from the beginning. Gering had been moved by a boyish
jealousy; Iberville, who saw the injustice of his foolish temper, had
played his new-found enemy with a malicious adroitness. The aboriginal
passions were strong in him. He had come of a people which had to do
with essentials in the matter of emotions. To love, to hate, to fight,
to explore, to hunt, to be loyal, to avenge, to bow to Mother Church,
to honour the king, to beget children, to taste outlawry under a more
refined name, and to die without whining: that was its range of duty,
and a very sufficient range it was.
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